-LRB- CNN -RRB- -- It 's the height of summer in Paris , and the director of the most famous art museum in the world is queuing like any other tourist .

Three-and-a-half hours later , Jean-Luc Martinez finally enters the Louvre , putting his bag through security , asking for directions , stopping to buy snacks and drinks .

It 's a familiar story for anyone brave enough to join the snaking line during peak season . Less so , when you 're the man who holds the key to the front door .

A few months after taking the top job at the Louvre , 49-year-old Martinez went on a covert mission to see what it 's really like for the average Joe jostling against the snap-happy masses .

Why ? `` If you are a professional , there is a risk at certain times you are only going to look at the museum with the eyes of a professional , '' he told CNN in his first television interview with the international press , since taking the role in April .

`` The people who visit the Louvre might only stop by once , and a trip to Paris is the holiday of their life . We have to make sure that they are received with a certain dignity . ''

The people 's museum ?

With over 9.7 million tourists streaming through the turnstiles last year -- easily making it the most popular museum on the planet -- the biggest challenge the institution now faces is not how to increase numbers , but how to improve the experience .

How will Martinez , one of the institution 's youngest ever directors , make that happen ?

`` I hope it will be more welcoming , which means that when you arrive at the museum there are less queues , that the people of foreign origin find reference points in their language , that with the help of Wi-Fi and apps you understand what you see , '' he said .

`` I picture a museum in which everyone finds their space . What threatens museums is that it is only an elite which understands the works of art . I want a museum where there are young people , children , elderly people -- and that requires work . ''

Modest Martinez

It 's an ambitious vision for the 220-year-old gallery , an institution so steeped in prestige that Martinez underwent an interview with French President Francois Hollande before being offered the role .

But then , Martinez is n't like previous directors . Growing up in social housing just outside of Paris in the 1960s , his father was a postman , his mother a caretaker of an apartment building .

A former archeology and art history professor , Martinez was head of the Louvre 's Greek , Etruscan and Roman Antiquities department before taking over from 12-year director Henri Loyrette -- himself the son of a business lawyer .

Described by colleagues as a `` quiet intellectual with a penchant for tweed and sweater vests , '' Martinez says the first time he visited the gallery as an 11-year-old on a school trip , it revolutionized his view of the world .

`` I was a kid that lived in a modern city , almost entirely dating from the 1960s , '' he said . `` And there I was , in the heart of Paris , shown works of art that were more than 5,000 years old and that history is profound . ''

Beyond the stars

Yet gaze across at the crowds scrambling to get a photo of the Mona Lisa -- while a room of precious Rembrandt paintings stands almost empty -- and you get the feeling not everyone shares Martinez 's appreciation for the Louvre 's vast collection .

`` The majority of people want to see the works of art that are the most famous -- the Mona Lisa , the Venus de Milo , and the Winged Victory of Samothrace , '' said Martinez .

`` We have to do some profound work to valorize the other collections . ''

How ? Through exhibitions of lesser-known works , new educational centers , and translating information plaques into English .

Brand Louvre

Of the Louvre 's 460,000 works , just 35,000 are exhibited , the rest in storage deep under the famous building .

That 's where Louvre Lens comes in -- a $ 150 million -LRB- $ 200 million -RRB- sister gallery in a former mining town in northern France . Opened last year , the gleaming new building displays around 200 pieces on loan from Paris .

It 's part of a growing Louvre empire , with another gallery set to open in Abu Dhabi in 2015 , exhibiting 300 works from French museums .

The United Arab Emirates is paying $ 400 million -LRB- $ 538 million -RRB- for the prestigious Louvre name . And in times of austerity , it 's a deal which will help the French institution revamp its entrance and ticket areas .

Does the deal also devalue the Louvre brand ?

`` No , '' says Martinez . `` It 's an agreement , a scientific partnership , an economic partnership . ''

With Martinez at the helm , it 's also the beginning of a brave new era for the beloved institution .

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Jean-Luc Martinez , new director of the Louvre , reveals plans to shake-up establishment

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49-year-old comes from modest background , father was a postman , mother a caretaker

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Wants visitors to be treated with `` dignity , '' plans multimillion revamp of ticket area

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Says $ 538m deal to build Louvre Abu Dhabi will help pay for makeover of French institution